


Celebrity, Explained

by missdibley



Series: The Red Nose Diaries [118]
Category: British Actor RPF, Tom Hiddleston - Fandom
Genre: AU Tom Hiddleston - Freeform, Drabble, Existing Relationship, F/M, Ficlet, Fluff, Tom Hiddleston AU, older Tom Hiddleston, red nose day tom - Freeform, the red nose diaries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:04:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22251355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missdibley/pseuds/missdibley
Summary: In the future, Tom and Carmen have a chat with their middle child.
Relationships: Tom Hiddleston & Original Female Character, Tom Hiddleston & Original Female Character of Color, Tom Hiddleston & Original Female Character(s), Tom Hiddleston & Original Female Character(s) of Color, Tom Hiddleston/Original Female Character, Tom Hiddleston/Original Female Character Of Color, Tom Hiddleston/Original Female Character(s), Tom Hiddleston/Original Female Character(s) of Color
Series: The Red Nose Diaries [118]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/260365
Comments: 5
Kudos: 25





	Celebrity, Explained

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure why, after many months of writing nothing, this is the first thing. Is it recent chatter about Tom and Zawe being in Atlanta, possibly together? Is it boredom a la Iris? Who knows?

It was a gloomy Saturday morning when Iris Carmen DiGregorio, age 11, stomped down the stairs from her bedroom, came to a hard stop in front of her parents who were sitting on the sofa reading, and huffed.

“I’m _bored,”_ she said, and planted her fists on her hips.

“Okay,” Carmen, her mother, replied.

“That’s it?” Iris shrieked.

“Is it?” Tom yawned.

_“Da-ad-dy,”_ Iris moaned. “It’s your fault.”

“Really,” Tom glanced at his wife. “Is it my fault she’s bored?”

“No,” Carmen began to say. “I think she’s on the verge of making you buy her something, though.”

“It’s your fault I’m even here!” Iris exclaimed. “If you two hadn’t met…” She began to count on her fingers. “And fallen in love.” She rolled her eyes when her parents cooed at each other. “Gotten married.” She narrowed her eyes. “And had Billy… then me… and finally Cam…”

“You forgot the dog,” Carmen said sweetly. “Don’t forget the most important member of the family.”

“Why can’t I have exciting parents?”

“Who has exciting parents?” Tom wondered.

“Della!” Iris gestured towards the door, as if her classmate was about to waltz right in. “Her father’s a DJ! Her mum is a fashion designer.”

“Good for them,” Carmen said.

_“Mum.”_ Iris did not look satisfied.

“Bagel, we’re 50.” Carmen’s voice always softened when she used Iris’s nickname from babyhood. “Our exciting years are long behind us.”

“You had exciting years?” Iris sounded doubtful.

“Um, hello?” Carmen poked her husband in the shoulder. “Fancy movie star over here.”

“But it’s not like we do anything fancy now,” replied Iris, pouting.

“It’s not every little girl who gets birthday phone calls from all of the Avengers,” Tom explained.

“Or gets to visit her father on sets when he makes movies.” Carmen smiled.

“But you’re not a real celebrity,” Iris said.

“What’s a real celebrity?” Carmen wondered, though she suspected the answer.

Iris flopped down between them and crossed her arms. “Someone who’s in magazines or on telly, going to awards shows, gets snapped at parties or going to the gym.”

“That happens to Daddy,” Carmen reminded her child. “Still does.”

“But never with you.” Iris looked up at her mother, and frowned.

“Well, that’s a choice we made. Long ago, when your brother was born.” Tom put his arm around Iris’s shoulders. “It’s alright if I get photographed in my holey track pants, spilling coffee while I pick up after Bobby.” He pulled her close. “But I’d rather keep you lot out of it. Protect you.”

Iris snuggled into her father and sighed.

“What’s going on?” Carmen asked.

“I… I looked you up the other day.” Iris didn’t look at either of them. “At Della’s. We went on her mum’s computer to look up famous people on the internet.”

“Yeah?” Tom murmured. “What did you find?”

“Apart from pictures of Uncle Ben comparing him to otters?” Iris sniffed. “Pictures of Daddy. With other women. Before I was born.”

“Well, you know Mum and I dated other people before we met…”

“I know but…” Iris wiped her nose. “There was… _you know who_… after you met.”

Carmen took Iris’s hand in hers to squeeze it. “That was a long time ago, love. Daddy and I were having…” Carmen looked up to find that Tom was already looking to her. “A misunderstanding.”

“Did you fall out of love?”

Tom took a deep breath. He said “no” while Carmen shook her head.

“Then why…” Iris began to ask.

“We were being stupid,” Tom said.

“You were being stupid,” Carmen corrected him.

“I was being stupid,” Tom allowed.

_“Unbelievably_ stupid…”

“I was trying to be a celebrity, a real one, as you might say,” explained Tom. “Turns out I’m not very good at it.”

“I noticed,” Iris smirked. “That tank top…”

“Enough!” Carmen said abruptly when she noticed Tom’s face flushing with embarrassment. “The important thing is that being a celebrity is perhaps not all it’s cracked up to be.”

“Okay,” Iris said.

“Okay?” Tom asked.

“I’m still bored, though,” Iris pouted again.

“Sorry, kid.” Carmen made to tickle Iris, who squirmed out of reach.

“Can I have my own laptop?’ Iris grinned.

“Definitely not,” Tom declared.

“Billy has one,” Iris moaned.

“Well, he needs it for school,” Carmen said. “All that advanced science stuff he does with your grandfather.”

“Boo!” Iris shouted. “Not fair!”

“And besides, daughter of mine.” Carmen nodded at the tablet she had set aside when Iris had come downstairs. “If you ever want to look for unflattering pictures of your father’s exes, just use my iPad.”

“Okay!” Iris snatched the device and ran back to her room while Tom could only groan “Button”, look at his wife who was laughing at him, and go back to reading his book.


End file.
